Darkness Falling
by h3artful
Summary: Darkness. It claws at my skin like a rampant bear... Riku's POV. Riku faces the darkness with no one but the Unknown to guide him. Will self discovery lead him back to friends?
1. Chapter 1

Yes, its me, xxsilverdreamxx, but you can call me Silver or Dream or Silver Dream or SD or anything you can think of as long as its not…

Degrading

Gross

COMPLETELY unrelated to the words Silver Dream

Etc

Ahem, anywho…so yes, I am here with my FIRST story under my new alias. I used to be Daughter of Trigon, but, seeing as I am broadening my fan fiction library with stories from other resources, decided I needed a new, indifferent name. Well, it's not THAT indifferent, but you get it.

Ahem, anyways, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything about Kingdom Hearts…if I did Kairi'd be WOOSHED away and I'd take her place AND Riku…maniacal laugh

"She Awaits Us…"

Darkness.

That's all I've known for too many days to count.

It claws at my skin like a rampant bear.

When I get out of here, I'm sleeping with all the lights on.

All I know is the long, winding path that leads me forward and the painful memories that try to pull me back…

Back.

Sometimes it seems as though I've been blindfolded and a new, older me is projected by the sudden change.

When this happens, _they_ welcome me like a brother. _He_ opens his arms like a father. _She_ doesn't look at me…

She never has.

She never will.

I want her to though. Human eyes might null the pain for once, the pain she so quickly caused.

You see, when I first got here I was…attacked. The only thing I knew besides the darkness was pain for about a week and then…well, then came the blindfold and _them_.

The Unknown.

The Enigmatic Man.

_Him _and _her_.

I thought I knew my father: a poor fisherman who gave up everything for his wife and son, dying before ever seeing the face of his child.

From what I've been told, that's wrong.

From what I've been told, everything I know is wrong.

Even the Destiny Islands.

Destiny…when I say that, the darkness becomes even blacker…

_They_ tell me not to lose hope…

The thing is, I had no hope to begin with. Malificent dashed away my hope the minute I found out she lied to me.

Lie…now the place brightens.

The only way to describe this place is with the word opposite. Here, everything that I _think_ is bad is good and everything I _think_ I know is wrong. _We_ are the myths here, not the dragons and unicorns. Yes, they're here, but they choose to hide themselves with the darkness only their creator can conjure.

Cowards.

When I call that out a flash of white sprints through the black and I feel something warm at the core of my very being. But when I try to name it­–hope, friends, heartache, love…–the white is gone.

Coward.

Singing does nothing here. I know this because I tried it and my words seemed to be sucked up by the darkness itself. It seems that the only one who is allowed to sing is _she_.

Not once has she laid eyes upon me.

Why?

That word is despised here, as if knowledge is not power, but weakness.

Perhaps it is…

Sometimes it is best that you don't know anything, for knowing is only revealing…like the light.

This musing gives me a headache and I can already feel cool fabric rapping itself around my eyes, under my hair, but this time the world does not become darker.

The light blinds me...

"Do not turn your head boy," commands a smooth voice. "We have decided that its time to give you our version of home. Let your eyes see."

Something inside me seemed to crack as I tuned my eyes towards the light and gazed upon a stormy grey sea.

"It isn't much, but it's better than the darkness. How far have you traveled on your path?"

I do not answer him right away; instead, I turn my eyes to where _she _sits. She is looking the other way, but turned just enough to let a sliver of skin poke out from her hood.

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. "But it seems to be getting narrower and I see flashes of white when I call certain words…"

"You talk to yourself?" asks the smooth voice.

"Yes."

"Very good! Now we know why you haven't gone insane."

I feel a small laugh bubble up in me and I reluctantly let it out. A pair of bright yellow eyes turned toward me in disbelief.

"When one can muster a laugh in such a dark situation, they are truly brave," a rough voice mutters. "Few have ever laughed in this place."

"Who are the others?"

I see the yellow dart over to where the girl sits and turn my own blindfolded eyes to her. She is drawing a picture in the sand and humming a forlorn tune.

"Why does she not look at me?" I whisper, my voice tainted with curiosity.

"You remind her…" The yellow eyes dart towards the outline of a man standing right in front of me.

"You remind her of a broken promise," the man hisses in his smooth tongue. "She forsakes the memory when she should welcome it."

"How far is she down her own path?"

"Ah, she is at its end," the man says, scoffing.

"Yes, she is, but she chooses not to open the door that leads to the final stretch for a good reason."

"How would you know?" whispers the standing man. "Not one word has she uttered in–"

"Not to you, no. You see, my friend, her trust is like a vase that has been dropped and taped together over a thousand times. She dares not lend it out for fear of losing a shard while taping it together again unless the person who wants it has agreed to help find the pieces," the rough voice says slowly. "She chooses not to open the door because she wishes to make the journey with a companion."

The standing man makes an erratic movement with his sword hand. "You wish to be her companion?" he accused in a deadly whisper.

Yellow eyes burn bright with ferocity. "No. I am doomed here for eternity; I have no path to follow!"

"Both of you shut up!"

All three of us turned in unison to see a figure with a hood pulled over its sandy blonde walking towards us. "They are back," he says simply and tosses one of his swords to me. "You will come with me, for you are…you."

"Though the rock, kid," the yellow eyed man commands. "You too, girl."

I watch as she slowly gets up and casually drags her foot over her drawings. Before we know it, she has disappeared into the rock and I am following.

"The king is awaiting our help," hisses the blonde. "He is awaiting you."

Now, two long hours later, I collapse in darkness once again. I forgot how much fighting wore me out…how much I loved it…how much I missed it…

"Take this."

I turn around and see the slim outline of a person in a black coat standing with their back to me. A single rock sits beside them and on it lays a shining silver necklace.

"Let it light your way to the end, for we will not see you very often now that the king has found you."

The voice moves me, its soft caressing words new to my ears. Kairi's words were never like that and neither were Selphie's. The memories seem to knock me down with their painful force.

"Don't remember anything; just look forward to what's coming."

And the figure's head moves to the side and its eyes open just enough to shine with a color that that world has never seen before: green-gold. And then, as quickly as it came it left and a new figure was walking towards me.

"Riku, don't let the light leave: treasure it. Now, pick up the necklace, put it on, and let yourself remember your light: your friends."

I do as the voice tells me and walk over to where the necklace lays. It's a simple silver chain with a small, silver, heart-shaped locket. I go to open it, but am stopped by the voice.

"Remember, for then you will know if they are safe."

I closed my eyes and opened them to see my friends standing on a beach, their backs to me. Only once did someone turn around and it was Sora.

I felt as if he was staring straight at me.

I closed my eyes once again and was content to feel my burning worry lessen.

"Follow me down the path and to the door; she awaits us."

-------

So? Good? Bad? Beautiful? Ugly? TELL ME!

Ha, review please! Hope you enjoyed it!

Ah, and please visit my homepage and JOIN! It can be found on my profile page!

3 Silver


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back! Trust me: I've got this story figured out. You won't believe the pages of ORGANIZED crap I've got on it! Don't worry: it will not just take place in "the darkness."

Disclaimer: I don't own KH…never have and never will! Hides blueprints to breach Disney's vaults and steal the originals

"_The door between light and dark…"_

I never knew a mouse could walk so fast and far; I swear that we've covered over twenty miles in a day. All I see are two ears bobbing up and down and the sheen of the king's keyblade as he examines it for any nicks or scratches. All I hear is darkness, for we haven't talked in that day.

"Where's your keyblade?"

Well, at least it won't be another day of silence.

"On the keychain."

"And that is where?"

"Er, I put it on with the heart charm."

Mickey stopped, nearly causing me to run into his short, fat form. He turned his hooded head to me and narrowed his black eyes.

"What made you do that?"

"Well, it seems that someone might want to keep their most valuable possession close to their heart," I explained with a shrug, "and these two items–the keychain and the locket–are my most valuable and dearest possessions, so I am."

Chuckling with amusement, the king began walking again. "We will stop in a mile."

I had started to miss the sound of my voice and the bizarre occurrences it wrought from the darkness, but I could see no way to talk to myself without my companion hearing me. I tried to remember what I talked to myself about: friends, home, the sun, the darkness…

Everything.

I realized that the darkness had softened around me. It was no longer a clawed and rampant animal, but a proud protector. It protected the life inside it.

It protected me.

"Yes, it did protect you and it still does," said the king matter-of-factly. "Think of the words that caused something to happen and tell them to me."

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "Hope, destiny, coward, why…there's a million of them."

"Which ones cause something good to happen?"

"Words like lie…"

"And bad?"

"Hope, destiny, love, friends…"

Once again the king stopped, but this time he sat down. "Riku," he said with a sigh, "here things are different. Here, good is bad and bad is good."

"I know."

"Here you are presumed a once-human that sold their soul to the darkness and it's true, no?"

"I guess it is."

"This is where your body is stripped away from your heart and your heart is left unsheltered and alone. It is left to think about what it's done, like the small kid you were not too many years ago. This place is also meant to strip your memories away, too, but some are too strong to lose. Some memories are apart of the heart itself. Tell me these memories if you can."

"The necklace," I said immediately. "When that girl gave me the necklace."

"That bonded to your heart immediately, didn't it? Why?"

My ears were suddenly filled with the screams of a thousand dying animals and a thousand blackboards being scraped by nails, begging me not to speak. "Because," I started with a shiver.

"Because?"

"Because she had never acknowledged me before. No one's done that before."

The noise stopped as if to listen.

"Is that all?"

I opened my mouth, but immediately closed it; no, I couldn't say that.

"Say it."

_Mind reader,_ I mentally spat.

"Yes, I am."

"Because she was another mystery to solve, another challenge to meet and something got through to her. She astounded me…"

"Very good, Riku. One of the keys to life is understanding your mind and I think that you unlocked that door a long time ago. We have wasted too much time pondering; let us walk."

As I hoisted myself up, I let my hand wander to the blindfold that covered my eyes. The fabric flowed like water under my hands and it seemed almost nonexistent. I went to find the knot that rested within the folds of my hair, but something stopped me.

The darkness stopped me.

A white streak bolted towards me the second I was about to touch the bundle of fabric. The streak had a ghastly horse-like with a gnarled horn sprouting from its forehead and a mangled body flowing smoothly from its neck. To a normal person it would have been the essence of fear, but in this place it seemed…

Right.

It was like looking at a flat surface just tilted enough to catch your interest; yet the minute you noticed you couldn't point out why.

"Don't touch it," snapped Mickey, his voice holding a deadly tone to it. "You're soul is not ready to face the light; in fact, I don't know if it'll ever be. If you take it off you will be blinded past seeing, deafened past hearing, muted past talking. You're soul will become shriveled and unfeeling, just like the rest of your body."

"What am I now?"

"You are blind, Riku," the king said grimly. "You're blind through and through."

"How can I see you?"

"Through memory."

I pondered for a moment: I had never seen the king before the darkness, so how could my memories hold him? I thought my memories had been stripped from my heart?

"You've seen me before, boy, but you didn't know it and I didn't know it either."

"What about that girl?"

Silence swept through the darkness and I waited as the king thought.

"There's something special about everyone," he said at last, "and she has something special to say about you, I'm sure."

"What?" I asked impulsively.

"I will tell you this: it's a legend."

_So here it would be true, _I added mentally and, despite the bizarreness of everything, felt at home.

Home…

How long has it been since I uttered that word?

Oh god, don't cry…not now…

I fumbled with the locket to distract my sorrow.

"Don't open it."

The silver heart fell back to my chest. "What about her eyes?" I whispered.

"She, like you, is supposed to wear a blindfold, but if she doesn't look at anyone she doesn't have to. Explain much? Ha, I know it explained everything to the two back at the beach."

"But their color…"

"You're not like Cloud," Mickey muttered. "You talk too much. Quiet."

"But Cloud isn't even from around here!"

"He's still from a world and he _has _succumbed to himself, so he came with me and found his way out. He said two words the entire time he was here."

"What?"

"Good-bye."

I felt my eyes widen behind the cool fabric. Cloud was already too quiet, but he must've been in here for weeks! I mean, sure, I don't talk that much, but when I'm the only person in nothing for a while…

Well, it gets to you.

"What's so important about this necklace?" I asked, completely disregarding the king's order.

He seemed ready to reply. "In it lies the essence of a legend lost long ago."

"The legend that girl is going to tell me?"

"Yes, that's the one. If you opened it that legend would be lost forever; plus, that girl pulled a lot of strings to get that necklace and losing it would make her very mad. You don't want to see her mad."

"What's an essence?"

"A memory. Everything is memory. You yourself are an essence of your mother and father–more him than her. You are wallowing in millions of essences this very second."

"But it's–"

"Darkness, I know. Yes, the darkness hides the essences, but it is the key to them all." He stopped and pointed to the edge of the road. "Bend down and examine the side of the road."

I did so and saw nothing but darkness.

"Closer," he ordered."

I bent down until my nose nearly touched the sand-like road. I felt my hair be brushed by some invisible–

"Grass."

Yes, there it was: dark green grass spreading into a field…. When I looked up it was all around.

"Darkness is the only truth for it is the only thing that can handle truth's unpleasant face. Now, look inside yourself and see if this news is new or old."

Taking a deep breath, I did as I was told and found a familiar bubble grow inside my chest. This was remembrance. I nodded and the king returned my nod.

Suddenly, the darkness isn't as dark anymore. In the grass sit barely-there animals, their yellow eyes glinting in the nonexistent moon. They watch me and I watch them, our gazes meeting and reflecting off of each other like two swords in combat. There are two small eyes gazing at me from a bed of leaves and the bubble of remembrance grows.

It is a cat.

"Not everything here is myth. Now, is it new or old?"

"I've heard that before. Many people have told me in some way that darkness is truth."

"No, not truth; darkness is the Creator."

"Then what is truth?"

"Truth is a part of humans, as is love, hate, denial, and other such feelings. Darkness feels nothing, but it is something."

I suddenly realized that a mouse was saying all of this.

A _mouse._

Aren't mice supposed to be stupid?

I closed my eyes and pictured my friends to take my mind off of mice. I hated mice. When I opened them, my friends all slept in separate beds…

Wait, why isn't Sora in his bed?

I close my blindfolded eyes again and picture Sora. Auburn hair, cobalt eyes, pale skin…and there he was.

Right in front of me.

Looking at me.

"You'll get out soon, Riku," he was saying. "And when you do, I'm taking you out for a big lunch at the mall. We can get hamburgers, hot dogs, those weird chicken fingers you like...anything."

Anything?

I mentally add to his list, the subject of food reminding me of how much I missed it. In Kingdom Hearts you didn't eat and Sora must've known that. But wait…

Why could I hear him?

"When you share a deep bond with somebody so does the Kingdom."

"The Kingdom?"

The mouse king's hand gestured to the field that surrounded the road. "The Kingdom," he said simply. "Yes, you and Sora share a strong bond and it has passed over to the Kingdom, allowing you to be able to hear his thoughts and words at any given time. It is a very special thing to possess."

"Do the others have this bond?" I asked timidly.

"Guess."

Well, the others never talked of anything but a place called Midnight and the Heartless, but one of them never talked period…

I decided to voice my hypothesis. "The girl?"

"She used to," I heard the mouse sigh, "but since the bond is composed of hope, it is very breakable."

"She lost hope?"

"No, the other lost it."

"Do you know who it was?"

"Questions," the king muttered. "Yes. They were very special to her; in fact, they were to be wed. Then he found someone else and forgot…. Riku, promise me this: never forget."

I nodded and realized that this must be the reason…

The promise.

"Is this why she never talks?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does she not talk to prevent herself from forgetting?"

"No, it's the complete opposite: she doesn't talk because she doesn't want to remember. The same reason goes for why she doesn't look at you. You–"

"–remind her," I finished. "Only bastards break hearts."

"Then everyone's a bastard."

Silence.

I'm never going to be quiet again…

Lights will always be on and heavy metal rock music will always be playing…

"Look up, Riku. We have reached the door between light and dark."

-----

Yes, I know…I'm wonderful! Ha. Well, did you like it? Hate it? Want more of it?

PLEASE REVIEW! AND visit my profile and CLICK on the word HOMEPAGE! Ha, but I 'd rather have reviews…

3 Silver


	3. Chapter 3

I'm BACK! Feel blessed, because I've never updated this much in three days…

I've been researching my KH: CoM. You see, I 'm Game Boy Advance-less, so I must rely on my "keen" Googling skills to inform myself…

Ah, I was reading over the last two chapters and BAM! I see that I've been using present- and past-tense! I'M SORRY! Ugh, you see, in English we have to write present-tense narratives, so my hands are all in a jumble! Bear with me, though: THIS CHAPTER WILL BE PAST-TENSE! (If you don't know what a tense is, please disregard this paragraph)

You'd be surprised.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything KH

"_You're Not Reminded…_"

It was a large, white, and gilded door. It stood upon the nothingness that stretched out from the end of the large path that Mickey and I had so diligently followed for the past few days. A couple of rocks were situated by it for no apparent reason and a large gazing pool sat out to its left. I imagined looking in it and being sucked off to Destiny Islands and seeing my friends again. I imagined looking in it and being sucked off to some unknown world that contained only a true love…

I really needed to stop fantasizing.

"The Twilight path ends," Mickey said as we strode towards the door, "and the path to the Dawn begins. Ah, they are both here."

I looked towards the door and saw a person similar to myself standing next to a hoodless blonde-haired Unknown. My first thought of the two was the uncanny and exact resemblances they had of Sora and I, but I knew it could not be: I was here and Sora was in the real world, battling his own enemies.

Or, as I would later find out, halfway through a memory-regenerating sleep.

"Who is the boy?" I asked Mickey.

"He is a dear friend to both of us, though you have yet to see that," the king whispered before looking up and greeting the two. "Hello, you two."

"Mickey," said the boy with a bow. "How is the training?"

"Training?" I whispered.

"His mentality has developed far more than I expected it to, so the minute we set out on the path to the Dawn, his true training will begin."

I felt the boy's eyes on my own blindfolded ones, but refused to look up into them. My hand immediately flew up to the necklace, fumbling with it, and I realized that it had grown into a habit over the journey. I had come to know its nicks and engravings like the back of my hand and often found my finger traveling over the leaves that formed a smaller heart and over to the _KH_ that was engraved on the back.

"Don't open it," snapped a voice I recognized as the girl's when my thumb traveled over to the crack that could open it.

"I know."

I looked up and saw her expression soften when I continued to play with it. Once again, I found myself imagining. I could almost see those gold-green eyes sparkling behind the thin, black blindfold that covered them.

And I had always thought of the other silver-haired unknown as a boy. Stupid, eh?

"Ansem still lies within him," the boy commented to Mickey.

"I fear he always will."

"Does he enjoy the darkness?"

"Aros, I believe you should ask him, not me."

Aros? Who came up with _that_ name?

"Riku, I am Aros Mesna."

"Are you a member of the Organization?"

The word struck me. I hadn't said that word since I agreed to join the pointless thing…

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not. All I know is that we seek the same thing: Sora."

My eyes narrowed and flew up to the boy's own coblat ones. That word struck me too.

"You've grown older on your journey."

"Two days?"

"You've traveled much longer than that. You and the king have been together for nearly half a year."

"He does not need to know every detail, Aros; let him remember what he wishes too. Let us proceed to what we are here for. Give me the necklace."

"Before you begin, tell me this: what's going on in Midnight?" ordered the king.

"It's not Midnight anymore, mouse; it's Kingdom Hearts," spat the girl. "The necklace, boy."

I gingerly removed the silver chain and place it in her gloved palm. She immediately closed her long fingers over it and tucked it in her pocket. "It is not ready, so you may explain."

"They have triumphed over Castle Oblivion," Aros sighed. "They now sleep for a year. During their journey you have had your own journey. In the period between journeys much happens, Riku. Think back to when you closed the door and ventured off down the path of Twilight. What happened?"

"Someone attacked me and the next thing I knew I was in the place you called Midnight. I found myself blindfolded, yet seeing and surrounded by heartless." I paused and my eyes widened again. "You can wield two keyblades!"

A bashful smile spread across Aros's face.

"You helped me," I continued, "and I helped you…. Heartless were everywhere. Neo Heartless: the New Heartless. They're strong. Can Sora–?"

"Sora can handle anything, Riku!" he snapped. "Stop thinking of him as a younger brother and start thinking of him as what he is: the keyblade master!"

I felt the girl's and Mickey's eyes turn towards us and my own cheeks flush a deep red. "No," I spat, "I won't!"

"You must!"

"Sora has been and always will be like a younger brother to me, so don't think you can change it!"

It was clear that we wouldn't get along.

"Riku–"

"Don't say my name," I spat. "I hate it. It–"

"–reminds you. I know."

A ripple of understanding passed through me when the girl finished my sentence. Another feeling rippled through me when the boy spoke again.

"Don't run, Riku," he spat. "Look at her! It does no good."

"Yes it does, Aros. You just don't know because you've never had anything to run from."

I turned to the girl and saw her face harden again, reminding myself even more of me. Her hand flew up to the back of her blindfold and it seemed that she was going to remove it, but the king stopped her.

"Don't," he said simply.

The small distraction gave me time to sum Aros up: he was the same size as Sora, though with a little more muscle; his hair, eyes, and face were also the same, though a frown that would never grace Sora's face was plastered onto it now; he was dressed in the customary robe of the Organization, but I could clearly see a white shirt poking out from underneath.

"You'll be lucky if Sora even looks at you when you return," spat Aros at last. His eyes blazed with fury.

"The legend," I said impatiently, resisting the urge to tackle the boy that stood across from me.

"It is in place. Open the locket and gaze upon it."

I caught the silver object that was tossed to me and flipped open the heart. Inside was nothing but an old picture and a drop of water. A year ago I would have glanced at this and tossed it aside, but now I lowered my head and actually_ looked_ at it.

"Training" had gotten to me.

The picture was a picture of Sora and I at the beach.

The drop of water was a drop of the spring water on Destiny Islands.

One word raced through my mind, a word that was as far away as the entrance to this damned place: _Home_.

"What is the legend?"

"It is in there."

I took a moment to think.

See? It got to me…

_It can't be…can it?_

"Are _we_ the legend?" I proposed meekly.

A smile spread across the girl's face. "Yes. You and Sora are the legend of Kingdom Hearts. Sora holds the legend of the light and you the legend of the dark. You are the main characters of each, but the draft is shared between good and evil, light and dark; Fate merely sits and watches."

This information seemed to anger the boy, for he spun around to face the girl and glared at her. "Why have you not told me this?" he yelled. "How can you have kept this from me?"

"This information was not for you to here!" she spat back. Her voice was cool and deadly.

"Who do you think I am?"

"I think you are Aros Mesna: arrogant, cocky, self-righteous, and extremely protective of everyone you know."

"Zori…Xanthe, tell me this: why do you think I am here?" he screamed back.

_Zori…_

"I think you are here because you care for your friends and your hometown and you are waiting for the signal so you can do anything and everything to protect them."

_The golden dawn…_

"The real reason, Xanthe!"

"Don't call me that!" she yelled, her voice sending prickles down my back.

"I will call you that because as of now it is what you deserve to be called! Now tell me the real reason!"

"You are a balance, Aros, just as your name is. You are the other side of Sora's heart. As he fights his way to the light you must help him! When he awakens you must search for him and fight alongside with him! You mourn over the day that you were whisked away to this place and you await the day you are able to go back to Twilight Town in peace. You, Aros, are Sora in every way except one."

"Tell me," the blonde snarled.

"You cannot see what makes this boy so important to Sora. You cannot get past the fact he joined the darkness. You cannot see _why_ he did what he did."

"Then you tell me what I cannot see."

"You must find them on your own."

_Dawn_.

"How?" he demanded.

"Look in front of you, Aros! Look at the resources that have been so carefully laid out before you. _Look_."

The blonde turned around and looked at me, his eyes burning with hate, anger, and agitation. I resisted the urge to pull off my blindfold and reveal my own burning eyes, hoping that sooner or later he'd back down.

"You will tell me on our journey," he spat. "Riku."

The edge of my blindfold was suddenly wet.

_Why am I crying?_

"Do not cry, boy!" ordered Aros. "The Kingdom has no sympathy, so there is no reason to cry!"

"Sympathy isn't the only thing to cry for, Aros," Zori whispered. "Do I really have to explain everything? Are you not reminded of anything?" She tuned on her heel and pushed Aros out of the way on her way towards me. "Why are you crying?"

It was a mute cry that washed upon me like the waves that crashed upon the sands of Destiny Beach. My blindfold was soon a soggy mass of black fabric that stuck to my skin unrelentingly.

"Mickey, may I–?" I heard Zori ask.

"Yes."

"But–!" I heard Aros protest, but before he could finish the wet fabric had been lifted from my face and everything became ten times brighter. I was tempted to shut my eyes due to the sudden pain the light brought, but resisted; I was eager to see what everything _really_ looked like.

It was beautiful.

"You've beautiful eyes, dream," Zori commented, making me realize that she had been looking at me the entire time.

_Dream…_

I stared unblinkingly at her blindfolded eyes.

"It's okay to look at me, dream," she said softly. "My eyes can't hut you."

_Dream…_

Her hand flew up to her blindfold and untied it with one swift motion. A blurry mass of fabric fell into her outstretched hand, revealing two green-gold eyes that seemed to burn with a hidden fire.

As soon as it was there it was gone.

"You can look later," she whispered into my ear. "You can also blink."

"I didn't want to miss anything."

"No one does, dream."

_Dream…_

"Do you dream?" she asked tenderly, her hands still working on my blindfold. I felt my hair lift up and fall into place as she got it out of the way.

"Not anymore," I heard myself answer. A swift tug told me she was done tying and was now busying herself with smoothing my hair. Butterflies crowded my stomach.

"You need something, Riku," she told me. "Something I don't think anyone can give you right now." She then added in a whisper barely loud enough for me to hear, "Especially not me."

Her hands drifted away from my hair, brushed my cheeks, and landed on my shoulders with a thud.

_Is this what home is supposed to feel like?_

"Mickey, the first thing this boy needs to do is train. Then he needs to find his father."

"What about Sora?" Aros demanded with a snarl.

"There is such a thing as multi-tasking."

"Anything else?" asked the king.

"Aros needs to learn the true meaning of the word _emotion_, as do I. We leave whenever you tell us to, your majesty."

"We will let everyone cool down first."

I turned around and looked Aros in the face.

"You can't be a member of the Organization," I told him quietly.

"Why not?

"You're not reminded."

------

_As I am writing this, I myself am reminded. I am reminded of why I write: to whisk myself off to another world, away from the tragic loneliness of our own. I write for only one person and that is myself. I am reminded…_

_Reminded._

_I do not wish to be; yet I am. _

_I, like Riku and Zori, try not to be reminded. _

_I do not see it as a weakness._

_I see it as moving on._

_Staying and mourning is a weakness._

_Are you reminded?_

Review, please.

X3 Silver


End file.
